Drop Pod Rehab: From Junk to Ok

I wanted to jump back into painting my Primaris marines, but decided to paint a test model to get back into the flow of things. For years a salvaged Blood Angels drop pod has been collecting dust, so I scooped it up, tore it down, and repainted it. The process worked well until the enamel phase, where things just went wrong. My ultra smooth blends on the interior were lost, and a lot of enamel chalked up on the model. However, I plowed on through, and in the end I think this is a pretty good outcome for a model I was planning on tossing in the garbage. Unfortunately, the color is completely off. It looks nothing like my newest Ultramarines. I have no idea what I did wrong, except use the wrong recipe. Too bad I didn't write down the colors I used on my newest Ultras. Fortunately, I think the paints I originally used are still on my desk, so all I have to do is paint up some more test pieces using all the available blues and hopefully I'll stumble on the recipe. I think the pod is done though. It accomplished its' purpose, buy saving the model I really want to paint from suffering the same wrong hue.

Warhounds and Army Shots

This makes up one side of the forces that I am painting for our club games. Depending on how I run it, I either need to paint up orks, or planetary guards next. Orks would allow some practice games to get players used to their units. I also want them to feel the superiority of Astartes. The will make the betrayal games better.

World Eater Thunderhawks and Troops

In my sprint to get enough forces together for game, I managed to put together some additions to my World Eaters force. I think it might be a field-able army now. I am a little light on infantry, but I am running out of epic space marines. I have closets full of epic, and yet I can't find any more assault marines or terminators.

Painting wise, the World Eaters are dirty and battered in contrast with the Sons of Horus. It should look really good when I put the full armies together.

Thunderhawk Transporter & Specialists for Epic 30k

My Sons of Horus now have HQ and specialist stands for the troops. The librarian was especially fun to paint. You can really see how much better GW plastics got in the later models. The scale, design, and form is vastly better. GW could do epic easily today. Next up are some World Eaters.

On The Painting Table: Thunderhawks & Reinforcements

After all of those dwarves, I needed something to jump start my painting. Some unfinished Epic models fit the bill perfectly, especially since there will likely be an Epic 30k event shaping up in the future. I'm a bit rusty with the air brush, but I think once I've applied a filter, these will fit right in. I still need to come up with some flight stands for the thunderhawks. After seeing Brian's drop pods clapped to telescoping rods at NOVA this year, I think these need to come in on tall stands. That is unless they are flying at the nape of the earth. You know, giant bricks are so agile that they can do that. :)

Epic 30K

With some new display cabinet space available I decided to break out an Epic force I started a while ago. Why did I stop painting this? Epic is incredible. This is the right scale for 40k.

Lord of the Rings Iron Hills Dwarves Completed!

I had thought that LoTR was a small model count game, but I guess not! This forces was painted for a friend of mine that I met just before the NOVA Open this year. We hit it off, and after describing that he would like a force painted to look like beaten leather armor instead of metal armor, I decided it was worth the challenge. So two months later, and the force is ready to be packed off and sent to him in the UK. One of my worries is that the weathering powder will be vibrated off of the models, and that the somewhat fragile AK-Interactive dull coat might come off.

Would I paint another commission? Maybe.

A Dwarf And His Pig

The huge Lord of the Rings army is complete! All I need to do now is glue the chariot down, and get on with the blood and gore. Finally!

Basing With Dirt

Instead of carefully making fake soil, and then priming it black and painting it. Why not just use the right colored dirt. That cuts out the middle man and gets these dwarves closer to completion. I like it. Just in case the owner of this army ever need to base any more models, I'll include a packet of dirt in the box. This soil is from a dirt path that crosses Pennsylvania Ave in Washington D.C. The super glue purifies it. At least that is what I'm telling myself.